www.microsoft.com/office/formsserver

Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 Microsoft® Office Forms Server 2007 provides a scalable, standards-based electronic forms solution that can help your organization extend the reach of forms-driven business processes to anyone with a Web browser. Office Forms Server 2007 uses new Microsoft Office InfoPath® Forms Services to deliver server-based electronic forms that streamline business processes and make data collection, distribution, and integration more cost-effective than is possible with paper-based forms. Office InfoPath® Forms Services also are available through Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007. Both standalone servers offer security-enhanced process integration.

Extend Business Processes with User-Friendly Forms

By using the advanced browser-based form rendering technology built into Office Forms Server 2007, you can distribute electronic forms on corporate intranets, extranets, or the Internet.

• Collect data from customers, partners, and suppliers. Extend your reach to organizations that do not use the Office InfoPath 2007 client. With Office InfoPath Forms Services, users can access and submit browser-based forms over the Internet or through mobile data services.

Office InfoPath 2007 form accessed in Microsoft Internet Explorer browser.

• Provide a seamless user experience. Office InfoPath 2007 uses built-in controls to deliver easy-to-use forms with predictable behavior, mouse-over tips, and built-in data validation. Office InfoPath Forms Services gives you the power to create network-friendly forms that minimize the time-consuming round trips usually necessary for data validation and calculations.

• Include more users in your business processes. Put Office InfoPath 2007 forms to work in customer-facing Internet sites or in business process workflow applications.

These features can help to extend the range of your forms-based processes:

• The Office InfoPath 2007 rich client helps forms designers add functionality that makes forms easy to navigate, fill out, and validate.

• Cross-platform and cross-browser support in Office InfoPath Forms Services can help your organization extend business processes with rich, intelligent, electronic form solutions.

• Storing data on the server, not the client, reduces time delays and provides a smooth user experience.

Streamline Forms-Driven Business Processes

Deliver powerful Office InfoPath 2007 forms-based processes more quickly and at lower cost than with paper-based forms.

• Integrate data with line-of-business applications. Use Office Forms Server 2007 to connect forms to multiple existing line-of-business applications through Web services. Office InfoPath Forms Services support Web services standards for receiving data from and submitting data to multiple line-of-business applications.

• Connect forms to workflow processes. Use Office InfoPath Forms Services workflow capabilities to connect your business forms with Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services or Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2006 workflow processes.

• Design and deploy forms with minimal IT involvement. Develop easy-to-use Office InfoPath forms as front ends to your business processes. With the intuitive Office InfoPath 2007 user interface, business users can create forms, deploy them to Office Forms Server 2007, and submit data automatically to a Windows SharePoint Services library or to a Web service—with minimal IT assistance.

Office InfoPath form published to a SharePoint library with workflow.

• Avoid costly rework and duplicated effort due to data entry errors. Connecting Office InfoPath 2007 forms data with line-of-business applications provides business users with access to all related data. Smart forms can be pre-populated with data, to reduce tedious data entry tasks and avoid data entry errors. Data validation rules built into Office InfoPath 2007 forms check for errors during data entry and prevent rework later.

These features accelerate and streamline forms-based processes:

• Native XML support provides the easy data exchange between IT platforms that underlie the integration of Office InfoPath 2007 form data, business processes, and line-of-business applications.

• Workflow capabilities provide a consistent user interface for structured business processes and enable Office InfoPath 2007 forms to submit data automatically to a Windows SharePoint Services library or a Web service.

Centralize Forms Solution Management and Control

Use Office Forms Server 2007 to provide a centralized forms solution repository that enables users to find forms easily and administrators to control forms access and deployment.

• Upgrade forms solutions easily in place. Deploy new versions of forms with virtually no downtime by using side-by-side form upgrades.

Central form administration and management.

• Control who can create and publish forms. With Office InfoPath Forms Services, business users can design and deploy forms, but network administrators retain control over who is permitted to publish forms to the server.

These features simplify forms development, management and control:

• Support for managed code execution on the server provides headroom for software developers to add advanced business logic and specialized functionality to Office InfoPath 2007 form templates. Shared data connections simplify form solution development and deployment.

• Intuitive forms design and tight integration with Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET provide developers with reusable code, rapid development and debugging tools, and the ability to write C# and Visual Basic® .NET managed code without leaving the familiar Visual Studio environment.

• Design-once Office InfoPath 2007 forms help designers to develop forms that can be used by either a browser or a rich client.

• Data connection libraries minimize the effort of retrieving and submitting data by providing pre-configured data connections that exchange data with specific line-of-business applications.

For More Information

Learn more about Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007 and the Microsoft Office system at www.microsoft.com/office/preview.

For complete system requirements, visit

www.microsoft.com/office/formsserver

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The example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, places, or events is intended or should be inferred.

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, BizTalk, InfoPath, the Office logo, SharePoint, Visual Basic, Visual Studio, and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.